Goldleaf Jewelry, a Chinese jewelry retailer with gold-mining investments, plans to buy United States oil and gas operator ERG Resources for at least USD665 million. The Beijing-based company said it would pay for the acquisition with a private share placement, raising as much as CNY5.7 billion from no more than 10 investors. Goldleaf will hold a 95% stake in Texas-based ERG after the purchase. Buying closely held ERG would give Goldleaf a foothold in oil assets on the U.S. Gulf Coast and California, adding to USD16 billion of oil and gas deals announced by Chinese companies in the past year. ERG sold 13 oilfields to Australia’s Linc Energy in 2011 for USD236 million. Goldleaf, which suspended its shares on January 1, resumed trading in Shenzhen. It surged the daily limit of 10% to CNY13.77 in the morning session. The company generated CNY8.7 billion of sales in 2012 and had CNY1.9 billion of assets at the end of that year.